Spain, Finland, Sweden, Italy
In Spain, conservatives dominated local elections earlier this year and the conservative Popular Party gained 13% to become the largest faction in parliament. Alarmed, socialist Prime Minister Sanchez offered the Catalan separatists amnesty for their failed secession in 2017 in order to get their support in forming a new government. That scheme ignited weeks of protests across the country, demonstrating conservative power and anger.
Finland has a new conservative government under Prime Minister Petteri Orpo that is tackling the power of labor unions, unemployment benefits, and other unsustainable costs of Finland’s former far-left welfare program.
Sweden, a European stronghold of far-left radicals, has a new conservative government as of last year. It is increasing funding for police and prisons, and cutting funding for climate change policies, including reducing taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel.
Conservative Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy, in power for a year, has racked up gains for her “Italy First” agenda. She reversed prohibitions on exporting natural gas, expanded exploration in the Adriatic, ended the ability of countries like China to buy Italian national debt, and is working to flatten Italy’s mountain of government regulations.